The Osun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party on Friday demanded the removal of the Commissioner of Police in charge of elections, Mr. Abayomi Oladipo, accusing him of bias against the party.
Addressing newsmen in Osogbo, the Osun PDP acting chairman, Dr. Adekunle Akindele, alleged that the state had been invaded by many armed men from the Nigeria Police and thugs brought from outside the state to cause mayhem and unrest.
According to him, the armed men allegedly brought to the state were received at the private home of a top member of the party.
The party further alleged that the top party chieftain had handed the armed men a list of leaders and members of the PDP to be arrested and detained for no just cause.
“As I am addressing you today, the PDP leaders are being hunted and arrested in a Gestapo-style. Across Osun State, houses of our leaders are surrounded and raided even without a search warrant. Where our leaders are not at home, their families are arrested, and their cars are taken away on various false pretext.
“An undemocratic statewide operation is ongoing designed to pick and lock up prominent PDP leaders ahead of the next state election. Our surprise is that such mass raid is being conducted against a ruling political party in clear violation of fundamental human rights of those affected.
“Unfortunately, the Police Commissioner has not been professional in the discharge of his duties. All petitions from the PDP on violent attacks on our members were not attended to. We have come to the conclusion that the state Commissioner of Police election (Abayomi Oladipo) is biased and partisan. We call for his redeployment with immediate effect,” Akindele said.
He also called on the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba Alkali, to investigate the APC members for perpetrating violence in the state.
But reacting, the Osun APC acting chairman, Mr. Tajudeen Lawal, said the PDP’s allegations were strange and unsubstantiated.
The party noted that its chieftains were ardent believers in the rule of law and as such would follow it to the latter, adding that if the PDP leaders had nothing to hide, there would not be any reason for them to make an issue with the police operatives carrying out their statutory duties of effective policing.
